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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / May 2005Mom
Rich Apr 26 2005, 07:05 PM Post #1 Unregistered Hi folks, I feel so petty right now. I should be glad about the adjuvant herceptin announcement but..my mom (67 stage 2.er/her2 pos))was consistently steered away from any chemo for,(depending on the doctor) various reasons(low yield, not beneficial to "elderly", emphysema risk). I felt in my bones that she should go for it and get in the 9831 trial but was scared to recommend it after 4 oncs said go with Rads and hormonal. Mom is on her last week of Rads and will meet about hormonal therapy next. 1) Any way this new info might influence her next move? 2)Is there any reason other than potential radiated skin inflammation to not do the chemo after rads? 3) Any thoughts on Aromasin and Lapatinib? Seems like that would be a good combo for women who aren't chemo candidates. I would like to add that my father has been diagnosed with spreading prostate cancer. if anyone here has info on that, please let me know. Rich > Rich Apr 26 2005, 07:05 PM Post #1 > > I would like to add that my father has been diagnosed with spreading > prostate cancer. if anyone here has info on that, please let me know. > > Rich First, subscribe to the PPML list - a very active list for Prostate Cancer. to do this Address an email note to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG - The Subject line is ignored unless required by IAP's such as AOL. - Type one of the following commands as your message: SUB PROSTATE Your Name (To start or renew a subscription) (substitute your real Firstname Lastname for "Your Name") ( Example: SUB PROSTATE John Doe ) SET PROSTATE DIGEST (To change back to getting the Digest) Since the list is so active, I suggest you choose the Digest form to avoid an avalanche of e-mails. You will receive a Welcome letter when you subscribe. Save it, it tells you how the list works. Obtain copies of all lab results and such, including your father's PSA history. You will need this type of info if the folks on the PPML list are to help you. Don't be rushed into a treatment - you have time to do your homework. Suggest strongly that you get the book "Primer on Prostate Cancer: The Empowered Patient's Guide" by Strum and Pogliano Look for it at amazon.com. > Hi folks, > I feel so petty right now. I should be glad about the adjuvant [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > 3) Any thoughts on Aromasin and Lapatinib? Seems like that would be a > good combo for women who aren't chemo candidates. I'm sorry things are being so difficult, Rich -- my heart goes out to you and your family! I would've thought that Aromasin would count as hormonal therapy, which you said they have planned for your mom. Since she's post-menopausal, presumably they're considering an aromatase inhibitor as the hormonal treatment? Overall, your doctors' advice doesn't sound too unusual, given your mom's age, stage, etc., but I can certainly understand why you'd want to try everything that might improve her odds. The thorny bit is that the odds-improvement needs to consider the fairly substantial risks of additional treatments, or unknowns about risks associated with treatments that are in the earlier stages of their roll-out. (My own mom died of BC, so while I won't say I know exactly how you feel, I do have some personal context . . . . ). Very occasionally, I sometimes even wonder in retrospect if chemo was a good choice for me, because of the after-effects and other personal aspects of its price-tag . . . and statistically I may've had more to gain because of age (44 at diagnosis), stage (3), and state of health at the time other than the BC(robust). It was probably best for me, but gosh, you never know. Just saw a video a few days ago that said chemo can have a similar effect on your skeleton (bone depletion) as 10 years of aging, and may deplete a similar 10-year-ish portion of your muscle-mass. That's leaving aside the chemo-brain, permanent peripheral neuropathy, heart damage, etc., that can occur for a minority who are treated. The bone/muscle effects are mitigated by appropriate exercise, but the other factors seem more of a wild card. Hard choices! Best luck to you all in the decision-making process, Ann T. Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email Thanks Ann, Part of the problem here is the seeming lack of knowledge of the true risk of an er+/her2+ cancer. Different oncs have placed it anywhere from 25-50% recurrence rate. And one recent study from korea suggested twice the rate of recurrence than er -/ her2+ . It's simply difficult to know what to believe. And it's impossible to know exactly what kind of hardships chemo will give a patient. I know there are quality of life issues but..does anyone who went through difficult chemo truly wish they were dead? I knnow..I'm not the one who would have to go through it. Do you have the chemo brain, neuropathy and heart issues? Rich > Thanks Ann, > Part of the problem here is the seeming lack of knowledge of the true [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I knnow..I'm not the one who would have to go through it. Do you have > the chemo brain, neuropathy and heart issues? I've known some people (few) who say they wish they'd decided against chemo -- which is different from saying they wish they were dead! But that's unusual, IME. OTOH, a very few do die from chemo itself. One of my cousins (around 52 y/o) didn't/doesn't go to medical follow-ups . . . she says she wouldn't go through chemo again if she were diagosed again. She would prefer just to die of the disease. But most women I know who did chemo tell me they'd go through it again, given the same circumstances. And while I have my own doubts on rare occasions, I'll bet I would, too. (It's not preferring death, you see, but wondering whether the chemo's truly had a positive effect on my lifespan, or I would've been this OK, this long, without it, and spared having side effects.) I have the chemo brain (my friends say they can't tell the difference; I can). It's enough to hinder me noticeably at work & in the parts of my personal life that require complex reasoning (but not bad enough to prefer death!). My residual neuropathy is minor, not worth talking about (seem to have a little numbness in hands/feet when especially fatigued, that's all). I have a friend with little enough feeling in her hands (7+ years post-treatment) that it interferes with her doing small-muscle things with her hands (like crafts). No heart problems, thank heaven. I think I have more musculo-skeletal problems than before chemo, and that's while being youngish (44 at diagnosis) and not particularly disposed to osteoporosis in other respects. I'm suspicious it has something to do with the bone/muscle depletion related to the chemo, but don't know for sure. Someone I know has bone necrosis (at 52 y/o) that her orthopedic doc blames on her chemo, and it causes pain & restriction of activities. I'd assume that the chemo's reduced my lifespan vs. what it would've been if I'd never had the BC, if that makes any sense. What one never knows individually is whether it's increased the lifespan vs. other treatment without chemo. Tough decisions, very individual. Best luck sorting through it, Ann T. Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email |
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